2 November – We promised our true love for all eternity

It’s good to go right back at time. For those that don’t know, there was once a contest with only ten songs. Can you imagine that now? Well, compared to that, 1959 was a bumper edition.

In that year, the circus pitched up in Cannes, and 11 countries were there. The eventual runners-up were the duo of Teddy Johnson, and today’s birthday girl Pearl Carr. Sixty years have passed, and although we lost Teddy in 2018, Pearl is still fighting fit. Pearl, Teddy and their little prop never led the 1959 contest, but scored off most countries, including amassing the votes of half the Dutch jury. Of course, P&T became the first in a very long line of runner-up UK songs. Something that’s not happened since 1998.

Pearl is 96 today.

Happy birthday, Pearl!